Update: Yankees still don’t have any interest in Kyle Lohse

February 28th: Scott Boras contacted the Yankees about Lohse but were told they don’t have any interest according to Buster Olney. I’m guessing this happened shortly after the new of Phil Hughes‘ back injury broke. As I wrote last week, I do think the Yankees should explore signing the right-hander, but the contract would have to be pretty favorable.

Lohse, 34, has gotten to the point where he’s been so overrated that he’s now underrated. He’s pitched to a 3.11 ERA (3.58 FIP) in 399.1 innings over the last two years, but he doesn’t miss many bats (5.72 K/9 and 15.5 K%) or get ground balls (40.9%). Instead, he limits walks (1.80 BB/9 and 4.9 BB%) and uses those fly balls to keep his BABIP low (.265). Plenty of journeymen have turned into quality starters with St. Louis only to turn back into journeymen after leaving (most notably Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver), which makes Lohse quite scary. If the Yankees could get him cheap, say one or two years at $5-7M annually, I think it would be worth exploring even giving up the pick. I don’t see Scott Boras taking that though.

As I said in the prev thread if the money is right I think it’s worth considering even though you’d have to sacrifice a late first round pick…..he’s probably a 3 or 4 starter in the AL east but they are going really gonna have to pitch well this year with a diminished offense….you have to pitch well every year but it’s even more of a priority this year.

Lohse would provide both depth and upgrade the back end of the rotation…..so it’s worth a look if Boras ( or Lohse) is getting desperate to get into a camp and the price is right….that’s obviously the rub though

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

He turned down $13 mil for 1 yr so I don’t see him taking less than that. If I were him I’d wait until draft is over if it means more teams would be interested

Blake

The draft is in June….highly doubt he’s gonna sit out half the season

jjyank

Didn’t the same thing happen with Damon after he left the Yanks? Just because he turned down arbitration doesn’t mean he’d insist on more right now. The market is the market. Declining arbitration is a gamble, and so far it seems like Lohse and Boras are losing that gamble.

If you made that statement two months ago, I would probably have agreed.

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

Granted, in retrospect he should have accepted the offer. But he’s not accepting $10M – $14M for 2 yrs, I’d bet my life on it. He may actually have more leverage if he waits until June. And what would he be sacrificing to do that? Half of $5M – $7M? He could sign with some contender desperate for a starter, then at year’s end go back into the market without the compensation attached to him. Maybe it’s not ideal, but it might be his best option

jjyank

I don’t see him waiting until after the draft. How often does that really happen?

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

Well, this is the first season under the new CBA so there’s no precedence to follow

jjyank

Fair enough. You could end up being right, but I’m not sure that the new CBA really plays into Lohse’s situation. Draft pick compensation was in place before the new CBA.

Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)

The now limited draft budgets in the new CBA seem to be the big issue now. Teams formerly could lose a pick and somewhat make up for that by going overslot with later picks. That option isn’t really available now that teams not only lose the pick, but also the draft cap space.

Steve

Weaver was TERRIBLE in St. Louis, pitching to 5.18 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 15 games.

Govin

I’m not one to give up a draft pick up for one year of insurance. If I had to give up a draft pick, I would like it to be for a little longer, and would also like to feel confident that those years are going to be good.

Blake

I think it’s reasonable to have that opinion…..but given that late first round picks are pretty unpredictable and that the Yanks have 3 of them Id consider if if we’re talking a one year deal or a cheap 2 year deal…

Govin

I agree that first round drafts are very unpredictable. that’s why I don’t want the Yankees to lose any draft picks(The more picks they have the greater the chance of them getting a mlb player). I’d rather take my chances with Nova and an older guy waiting in the minors.

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

I’ll say this: something valuable will get thrown against the wall in my house if we sign Lohse before June. There’s no way you give up a first round draft pick for anything less than a franchise player, much less a journeyman pitcher from the NL. With the new CBA, 1st round picks are gold. Teams should hoard them, not throw them away.

Blake

High first round picks are gold….. Back of the draft first rounders are probably more like bronze or copper

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

Haha…seriously though, with the assigned bonus values and the restrictions on spending, the extra allowance that comes with picks even at the back of the first round are so incredibly valuable that teams should really protect them at all costs

Blake

They are very valuable for sure….

trr

but still, you could nab a late blooming talent that could be an impact player….that’s why it’s valuable to have several picks at the bottom of the round

jjyank

Agreed. With late round picks, I want the Yanks to have as many as possible. Since late round picks are more or less a crap shoot, the more they can keep, the better chance one will pan out. I’m with Govin’s statement above on that one.

Now Batting

The odds of a late round first pick turning into someone as good as Kyle Lohse are very small, and I don’t even think Lohse is that good to begin with.

entonces

But draft picks now have added value. An extra draft pick means more money avalable to spend. Maybe allows you to get a guy worth more than his slot with one of the other picks. Also, if someone else signs Lohse Yanks move up a spot in draft. And why block Nova/Phelps? Only argument I see for Lohse on cheap 2-yr contract is that you may need him if Hughes, Pet, Kuroda are gone in 2014.

http://www.thebronxempire.com The Bronx Empire

Absolutely right. I’m very excited about this upcoming draft because the Yankees have a lot of options with the bonus pool available to them. They could grab someone sliding due to high bonus demands… I think of Lance McCullers last yr and was really hoping New York would take him. Unfortunately, even if they wanted him they couldn’t take him because his demands were quite high. Only Houston, with their large bonus pool, could afford to do that. Now this year at least we have that option.

Laz

And people thought I was ridiculous months ago when I said that Lohse would be an idiot to turn down the $13.3M 1 year offer.

RetroRob

He’ll still get more than that.

Bobby

I don’t want the Yankees to get him, but he’s been the unluckiest free agent in history, it seems. A few years ago no one offered him anything, and he ended up signing late for a very low one-year deal. I guess he kinda made up for it though- as I recall him signing an extension after 1 solid year and then being terrible for awhile after that. But then he did pull it back together and have a couple very good seasons.

teddy

could lohse say signed a minor league deal and then signed an extension say in april

Manny’s Banwagon

Maybe Cashman could try him in CF if Joba doesn’t work out

SevenAces

I wanna see this get dragged out and see how low Lohse can go.

mitch

Agreed. I’d love to see a Boras client get completely f’d for waiting too long. I hope he ends up signing a mid year contract for 1/5.

TCMiller30

But do you think they have any interest in signing Lohse?

http://Riveravenueblues Mississippi Doc

So we would give up the same first round draft choice for Lohse that we would have lost for Greinke or Hamilton? Why are we even discussing this option?

Hardy

Lohse would be a lot cheaper than either Hamilton or Greinke.

King of Fruitless Hypotheticals

What about Damon?

literallyfigurative

how about we tell boras we’ll sign loshe for 1 year 10 mil, if he agrees to have cano sign the extension now.